Sofa-bed



sept. 20, 1932. s, KARPEN 1,878,405

SOFA BED Filed March 18, 1931 4 sheets-sheet 1 E A zggwfm@ Sept. 20,1932. s. KARPEN 1,878,405

SOFA BED Filed March 18. 1931 4 SheetsfSheet 2 IHIHIIIIHIHIIHIIWWh(.

' jzfnz'ors' 50(0772'072 afezz sept. 20, 1932. s. KARPEN 1,878,405

SOFA BED Fued Maren 18, 193iv y 4 sheets-sheet S if-,5 T

www

Sept. 20, 1932. 5 KARPEN 1,878,405

lled March 18,@1951 sheets-sheet 4 T71 ?/e72 fo 7^' 5 0 2077307250750673,- L

25m f zu@ Patented S'ept. 20,/-1932 UNITED STATES Pai'rrzlu'r OFFICESOLOMON KARPEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .ASSIGNOR TO S. KARPEN' a BROS.,OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA SOFA-BEDApplication filed March 18, 1931. Serial N0. 523,533.

This invention relates particularly to an improvement in sofa-beds ofthe class employing a folding portion capable of occupying a verticalposition to afford a back for the sofa or a horizontal position to givethe required width for a bed.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a folding sofa-bed ofstaunch and simplified construction which maybe readily converted into abed or folded to form a sofa, the folding and unfolding operationsserving automatically to withdraw or advance to a convenient position adrawer which is concealed beneath the sofa or bed. Another object is toprovide a sofa-bed equipped with track and anti-friction elements whichenable the apparatus to be conveniently folded or unfolded. Thesofa-bed, constructed in accordance with my invention, requires veryslight wall-clearance and the folding and unfolding operations may takeplace with the stationary supporting structure substantially against awall. Other objects and advantages wil appear as the specificationproceeds.

The invention isfully described in the following specication and shownin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 isa sectional view inelevation, the section being taken as indicated at line 1 of Fig. 3;Fig. 2, a similar sectional view, the back and seat frame members havingbeen swung to a. different position; Fig. 3, a broken sectional view,the section being taken as indicated at line 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, aperspective view of the apparatus, in unfolded position, forming a bed;Fig. 5, an enlarged detail view of the hinge and locking members; Fig.6, a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the locking members in a differentposition; and Fig. 7, an enlarged view of the hinge and locking members,showing the position of these members when the apparatus is in downposition, forming a bed.

In the illustration given, A represents a stationary frame support; B, aframe member constituting the seat of the sofa; and C, a frame member,hingedly connected tothe member B and constituting the back of the sofa.

Thef supporting structure A may be of any suitable construction. In theillustration given, it is shown provided with legs A and with armsupports A2.

F ixedly secured to the frame structure A, is an inner frame comprisinga pair of side rails 1 which are connected at their rear sides by backrail 2. At their front the rails 1 are secured by an inner-rail 3 whichis secured to the underside of the rails l. Any suitableA through whichconnections with anti-fric-v tion elements may extend. The side rails 1are also provided with bracket plates 5 to which are pivotally securedlateral link members 6. The links 6 are pivotally secured at their otherlends to bracket plates 7 which are carried by the sides of thesofa-back C. Preferably the back C is provided with a rounded extension8 upon which the bracket plates 7 are secured.

The seat-member B may be of any suitable construction. In theillustration given it is provided with a side rail 9 which is preferablybevelled or inclined downwardly along its front sides 10. A cross rail11 may be used to connect the rear portions of said sides 9 and adepending wall strip 12 may be used to secure together the front sidesof side strips 9. An intermediate bracing crosspiece 13 may be employed.As illustrated more clearly in Fig. 4, the depending wall 12 at thefront of the seat-member B is provided with legs 14. The legs 14 may beof any suitable number or type.

The sofa-back C may also be of any desired construction. Preferably itis provided with side rails 15 which are secured together by a pair oflongitudinal rails 16. As shown more clearly in Fig. 4, a pair ofcross-pieces of brace-members 17 may be used to connect the rails 16 atintermediate points.

The adjacent ends of side rails 9 and15 of the frame members B and C, oneach side ofthe sofa-bed, are each equipped wlthtemplets or -hingedplates 18 and 19, respectrvely. The hinged plates are provided withrightangle flanges 20 which engage the top and end walls of the siderails 9 and 15 and are secured thereto by screws or other suitablemeans. Each hinge plate 19, carried by rail 15, is provided with astaple or U-shaped locking bar 21. Each hinge plate 18, carried by saidrail 9, is equipped with a pawl'22 which is secured to the plate 18 byp1vot 23. The pawl 22 is provided at its forward end with a notch orrecess 24 adapted to receive the lower portion of the locking bar 21.

Pivotally secured to the pawls 22, adjacent to the recesses 24, atpoints 25, are small links or dogs 26, provided at their free ends, ontheir under edges with notches 27 affording engaging shoulders 28. l

Each of the hinged plates 18 and 19 1s equipped with flange extensions29 and 30 which overlap and are secured together by pivot 31. The pivot31 also extends through a metal post or standard 32. Secured to thelower portion of each of the posts 32 is a foot plate 33 which carries apair of rollers 34 pivotally secured to the plate. As shown more clearlyin Fig. 3, the rollers 34 travel within the track members 4 and theirpivot connections extend through the inner opening of the track members.

Secured to each of the foot plates 33 and extending inwardly therefromare pins 35. The pins 35 are ixedly secured to the plates 33. k

A n open drawer 36 is supported below the frame members B and C. It maybe of any suitable construction. In the illustration given, the draweris provided `with front, rear, side, and bottom walls.

The side walls 37 are provided with relatively long slots 38 whichextend to the rear side of the drawer. The slots 38 are adapted toreceive the pins 35 which are carried by the foot plates 33. Inassembling the drawer with the moving parts of the sofa, the pins 33enter the slots at the rear of the drawer and advance through the slotsas the drawer is pushed inwardly. To prevent the pins 35 from leavingthe slots 38, a removable key or locking-pin 39 is dropped through ahole which extends from the top of the drawer side and passes throughthe slotway 38. With the apparatus assembled as described, the forwardend of drawer 36 rests upon the cross rail 3 which is secured to thefixed standard rail 1. The rear end of the drawer 36 is supported by thepins. The pins 35 are carried by the foot plates 33 which are supportedby rollers 34 within the track members 4. Likewise, thehinged ends ofthe side rails 9 and 15 are supported by posts 32 which rest upon footplates 33.

In the operation of the apparatus, Fig. 1 illustrates the'apparatus inits foldedposition in which it serves as a sofa. The locking bar isshown in engagement with the notch or recess 24 of the pawl 22. Theslightly inclined angle of the sofa-back C maintains the parts in thisposit-ion. When it is desired to convert the sofa into a bed, the frontend of the seat member B is raised to the position illustrated in Fig.2, the track elements cooperating with the link 6 to carry the hingedparts of members B and C to a forward position. A s will be observed inFig. 2, the notch 27 of the dog 26 is still held out of engagement withlocking bar 21. In order to release the locking mechanism, the seatmember B is tilted slightly rearwardly thus bringing the notch 27 of dog26 into alinement with the bar 21. The dog 26 drops into loweredposition with the shoulder 28 engaging bar 21. When the seat member B isnow lowered, the dog 26 swings about its pivot 25 and carries the recess24 of pawl 22 out of engagement with the bar 21. The pawl 23 then slidesforwardly within the U-shaped locking bar 21 as the seat-member B dropsto a horizontal position, as illustrated more clearly in Figs. 4 and 7.

As the foot plate 33 moves forward with the hinged members 18 and 19,the pin 35 engages the drawer at the forward end of the slot and movesthe drawer forward to assume the position shown in Fig. 2. When theseatmember B is dropped to horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 4, theextended drawer is concealed by the front wall 12 of seat B. When it isdesired to have access to the drawer, the front end of seat member B maybe raised to the angular position desired. In returning the members totheir original position, to form the sofa, the' hinged portions of thedrawer', carried by the cooperating rollers and track members, are movedrearwardly and the back C, guided by link members 6, is brought to avertical position. The retraction of the foot plate 33 causes the pin 35to engage key 39 and in this manner the drawer 36 is automaticallywithdrawn to a position below the member B, which now forms the seat ofthe sofa. dog 26 is held out of engagement with the bar 21 and the bar21 is held in Aengagement The notch 27 of with the notch 24 of pawl 22by the slight i tilting of the back C.

If desired, the apparatus may be converted from bed-form to sofa-form byfirst raising the seat B to the position illustrated in Fig. 2, therecess 24 of pawl 22 being brought into engagement with bar 21. The seatB may then be lowered and the back C raised while, at the same time, thehinged portions of the members are moved rearwardly upon the supportinganti-friction elements. The withdrawal of the foot plate 33 brings pin35 into contact with key 39 and simultaneously withdraws the drawer 36within the base part of the sofa-bed.

With the apparatusillustrated, it will be observed that the drawer isautomatically extended or retracted during the sliding movement of thehinged frame members and is concealed both in its retracted 1 orextended position bythe depending front Wall 12 of the frame member B.

If it is desired to remove the drawer entirely this may be readilyaccomplished by lifting the key 39 out of the slotway 38 and u thenwithdrawing the drawer.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly aspermissible in view of the prior art.

' I claim: v l 1. In a sofa-bed, a stationary supporting structure,hingedly connected frames carried thereby, said' frames constitutingre-` spectively a sofa-seat and a sofa-back, means on the connectedframes coacting with means on the stationary supporting structure forslidably supporting said frames upon said supporting structure, 'adrawer slidably mounted in said structure, said drawerbeing provided atits sides with a slot-way, and a pin carried by said first-mentionedmeans and engaging aslotway of said drawer.

2. In a sofa-bed, fa supporting structure, hingedly connectedframescarried thereby, said frames constituting respectively a sofaseat and asofa-back, track members carried by said supporting structure,anti-friction elements -disposed therein, supporting posts connected tosaid anti-friction elements and slidably carrying said frames, a drawerslid- `ably mounted in said Isupporting structure and having a sideprovided with a slot-way, and a projection carried by a supporting postand engaging said slot-way.

3. In a sofa-bed, a Supporting structure, hingedly connected framesconstituting respectively a sofa-seat and a sofa-back, a supportingmember slidably carrying the hinged portionof said frames upon saidsupporting structure, a drawer slidably engaging said supportingstructure and having a side provided with a slot-way, and a projectioncarried by said supporting member and engaging the slot-way of saiddrawer.

4. In a sofa-bed, a supporting structure, hingedly connected framescarried thereby 50 and constituting respectively a sofa-seat and asofa-back, a supporting member slidably engaging the supportingstructure and oarrying said frame members, a drawer having its rear end'portion adjustably carried by said supporting member and slidablyengaging the front portion ofsaid 'supporting structure.

5. In a sofa-bed, a supporting structure,A

hingedly connected frames contituting respectively the sofa-seat and thesofa-back, a

having its sides provided with open slot-ways extending from the rearend forwardly, pins carried by said supporting members and engaging saidslot-ways, and retaining pins extending through the sides and slot-waysof said drawer and at right angles to said slot-ways. i

7. In a sofa-bed, a stationary supporting structure, a pair of framesconstituting respectively a sofa-seat and a sofa-back, said l framesbeing hingedly connected, means onl the connected frames coacting withmeans on the stationary supporting structure for slidably supportingsaid frames upon said supporting structure, a drawer also slidablymounted in said supporting structure, and slidable connecting meansbetween said frames and drawer.

SOLOMON KARPEN.

